History and Family
Lyn-Z Adams Hawkins was born in San Diego and raised in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, California, although spent part of her childhood growing up in Sayulita, Mexico, just outside Puerto Vallarta. Her legal name is Lyndsey, and Adams is her middle name. She started using the nickname Lyn-Z in the 4th grade.
Hawkins was very athletic and started surfing at the age of 6. She also participated in a variety of sports like soccer, baseball, basketball, and gymnastics. Lyn-Z got into skateboarding after her brother, Tyler, bought her a membership at the Encinitas YMCA when she was six years old.
Hawkins' often uses her artistic talents to customize the griptape on her skateboards. Many bear the letters RIP, in memory of her late father, who died in December 2003.
On June 4, 2011, Hawkins and boyfriend Travis Pastrana were engaged at the Nitro Circus Live World Tour in Las Vegas, when Pastrana stopped the show dead in the middle and got on one knee. On October 29, 2011 Hawkins and Pastrana were married in front of several family and friends in Southern California, near the home of Hawkins.
Lyn-z is considered one of the top female skateboarders in the world today. At the age of 21 she is already considered a legend. With 8 X Games medals under her belt (1 bronze, 4 silver, 3 gold) she’s been the face of women’s skating for many years. She started skating at a young age and was constantly surrounded by some of the top women and men in the field. Lyn-z has been impressive to watch since she stepped on the board and today she regularly finds herself atop the podium at almost all of the contests she enters.
Lyn-z doesn’t limit herself to one discipline, she skates vert, bowl, street, and mega ramp. She was the first female to skate a big jump ramp such as the mega ramp at the age of 15. She has had extensive exposure in television and print media in both national and international markets. After losing her father at age 14 she went on to win her first Gold, becoming the 2nd youngest gold medalist in X Games history. Lyn-z then had a small set back with a knee injury in 2006. She kept active in the contest scene by attending all the World Cup Skate events and commentating for them, while doing correspondence for various shows.
Lyn-z wanted to be the first female to land a McTwist 540 in competition. After wowing the crowd she was unsuccessful in landing the trick at X Games. She successfully landed the McTwist at the Tony Hawk Show in Paris, France in November 2009 to the cheers of 7,000 supporters in the Grand Palais. This same year Lyn-z also secured her 3rd X Games gold medal after winning the first ever ISF World Champion in women’s vert.
Her passion goes well beyond skateboarding with interests and experience in almost all “action sport” activities. She has started riding dirtbikes in her off time and has taken advantage of the winter seasons in the past by moving to Mammoth Mountain to cross train with snowboarding. Lyn-z has placed top 10 in many of the snowboarding events she has entered. When it comes to board sports Lyn-z started out young, competing in surfing as part of the culture while living in a small fishing village in Sayulita Mexico.
Currently Lyn-z is a character in the Tony Hawk video games. She travels the world with the live action sports show “Nitro Circus Live”. Lyn-z is on the Athlete Advisory Panel for The Women’s Sports Foundation. She regularly works with The Tony Hawk Foundation. She can be seen in many TV shows and movies as a skate stunt double for key characters.
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